Changeable advertising display



Jan. 17,1939.

' E. s. CORCORAN GHANGEABLE ADVERTISING DISPLAY 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 9, 1938 3-1 Wanton E, s. coRcoRAN CHANGEABLE ADVERTISING DISPLAY 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9, 1938 v v J'IVJQQWYOO v EDWARD 5.Goecaefl/v.

Patented Jan. 17, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

This invention refers to advertising signboards and more particularly toone that is moveable and changing and capable of being used with atrailer attached to a motor vehicle. It has among its objects, toprovide a signboard of this. nature that will have four possible signs,or sets of signs on each surface or wall; that will work intermittentlyso as to present the signs consecutively to view, that will be simplebut effective in construction; that will be capable of special effectsthat attract attention, which will have all the signs on the signboardsin operation at the same time on all sides or walls of the housing thatholds them all erected on the trailer.

Signs on vehicles are usually of two types. One type being permanentlyaffixed and disclosing the ownership of the vehicle; and the other beingsemi-permanent in that it can be affixed or removed at will. In the.last case, the sign is usually of cloth or some light material that canbe thrown over the body of a vehicle, fastened with buttons or the like,and then removed at will when the vehicle is to be used for otherpurposes. This invention is not strictly in either class, but in one ofits own, as it provides a system of sign-boards for trailers that arepermanent structurally but changeable interiorly and intermittently topresent different sets of same, as the trailer travels along. To getthis result, the invention has a series of slats that are preferably oftranslucent material, and arranged to rotate in quarter turns to presentnew signs at every such turn.

Normally, there are signs made up for each of the two sides of the slatswith another set arranged in back likewise, on secondary slats, that canbe seen when the slats are horizontal, and thus provide another picturewhen the front slats are in that position. The slats. are made narrow tomake them more effective, and to bring the rear set close to the frontones and thus present their designs to be clearly seen by the spectatorin the street. The vehicle preferably operates the mechanismthat'propels the slats, as it moves along the street, with provision tooperate the same manually if desired.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of this invention:--

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a trailer vehicle carrying signsand housing embodying this invention,

Figure 2 is a section through a portion of the housing to indicate theconstruction and mechanism for operating the slats, taken along line 2-2of Figure 3,

Figure 3 is a section through the portion of the housing showing theroof sign operating mechanism,

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation along line 4--4 of Figure 2.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout thedrawings.

In the construction shown in the drawings I represents a platform on atrailer chassis 2 of conventional design. A housing 3 is mounted on theplatform and contains a series of sign boards 5 on five walls of thehousing. Lights 4 on the platform provide illumination from the exteriorfor the signs, when required.

The front signs or signboards 5 are framed in the housing as indicatedby the portions 6 of the housing and may or may not have glass windows'I to protect the signs themselves. The signs are made up of a pluralityof narrow thin slats 8 supported on central shafts 9 that project intobearings II! on the housing interior. The end portions I5 of the shaftare of square cross-section to assist in the turning of the slats. Theslats fit closely to each other, and are painted with the desired sloganor sign wording on both sides. The slats are preferably of translucentmaterial to permit special lighting effects from the interior.

A suitable chain mechanism 2|, with claws I2 and running over sprocketsI 3, supported in bearings I4 on the housing, provide arrangements forrotating each of the slats intermittently. As the claws engage and moveagainst the squared end portions I5, they pull on them and rotate themthrough a quarter turn, a spring I6, serving to prevent further movementfor the time being. The spring is suitably attached to the housingconstruction, is stationary, and is of the flat type. Then when the nextclaw is brought into engagement, the squared end portion with each frontslat is rotated another quarter turn. The motion of the Vehicletransmits power from the axle I! through a transmission I9, to a. commonseries of shafts I8, that in turn transmit the motion to the uppershafts 20 through chains 2! and in turn operate the claws I2 that turnthe central shafts 9 of the slats. The shafts I8 with their bevel gears23 'serve to tie all the front signs into a uniformly operating system.A manual device 24 permits the mechanism to be operated by hand ifdesired, independent of the axle operation. Another series of sign slats28 are constructed and mounted similarly in the rear of the firstmentioned slats and in the same manner and rotated intermittently,through the into engagement with the squared end portions of I chains 2|and claws l2. The shafts for the roof sign operate similarly to the wallslats and receive power or motion from the transmission chainZ2connecting the roof and wall sign slats together. In back of the slatsigns are placed stationary signs I I that may or may not be utilized,as a background sign in addition to the others, if desired.

In operation, the trailer travels along the roadway and its axle I!turns. The turning of the axle through the transmission mechanism turnsthe chains I9, 2| and 22, and brings the claws the central shafts of allthe slats and rotates them through a quarter turn. This brings the frontslats from a vertical position to a horizontal and shows the picture onthe slats in back, which are arranged to be vertical at the time. Theslats in front are then rotated another quarter turn to bring the slatsvertical, with their pictures facing the observers. The next quarterturnmovement causes the front slats to assume an open-slat position. Thisposition allows the I slats in the rear tobe seen, with whateverillustrations may be on them, since these last mentioned slats are inthe vertical position. The vertical position alwayspresents the slatswith the fiat sides facing the eye of the observer standing in front ofsame. In other words, when the front slats are horizontal or in openposition, the rear slats are vertical or in closed position, andvice-versa. The next quarter turn of the front slats brings them intovertical position with the flat sides facing the public. This lastposition brings the flat faces of the front slats to view, which flatfaces are on the opposite sides of the slats to those that were shown bythe front slats previously. The following table gives the movements ofthe slats during the consecutive quarte pear to the observer.

turns: a

Movements of sign slats Quarter turn Front slats Rear slats Picture seen011- Vertical Horizontal" Face of front slats. Horizontal Vertical Faceof rear slats.

Vertical, Horizontal Back of front slats. Horizontal" Vcrticalnlu Backof rear slats. VcrticalHH. HorizontaL- Face of front slats.

Repeating in consecutive order as before. It is, of course, understoodthat the rear pictures are seen on the vertically arranged rear slats,through the front slats when the latter are horizontal, because of theslight visual obstruction that the thin edges of the slats offer whenthe front slats are in such position.

By using translucent material for the lights can be used in back of themto provide illumination for special effects, such as of colored circles34, or the like, with lights 35 mounted within the interior of thehousing.

First, the illumination is from the front, and

then the secondary illumination is thrown on to bring out the coloredcircles, squares or other regular figures that may be painted on theslats.

slats,

The position of the circles can be so that the secondary illuminationwill show through, no matter which vertical position the slats are in.Thus if the front slats are vertical, the colored devices will appear tothe eye of the observer, if they are on the front slats because they areshown directly to him through the use of the rear lighting. Thesecondary illumination will shine through and between the horizontalslats to the front slats and illuminate same, in this case. If the rearslats are vertical, the illumination will enlighten them and make themap- In other words, the same secondary lighting will illuminate eitherfront or rear slats, when the slats are of translucent material, and thelighting is placed in back of the rear slats. The device is effectivebecause the slats showing one sign, suddenly change to a depth sign inback; and then back to another sign on the front slats, which isdifferent to that which appeared before. These actions are sufficient toattract the attention of spectators and cause them to read theadvertisement.

While but one form of the invention is shown in the drawings, it is notdesired to limit this application for patent to the particularconstruction indicated, otherwise than limited by the prior art, as itis appreciated that other forms might be made that would use the sameprinciples and come within the scope of the appended claims. 7

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A signboard for trailers comprising in combination, a housing with aplurality of walls, signs within the walls made of pivoted slats withsign wording on both sides, means for rotating the slats, mechanism forconnecting said means together to operate uniformly with one another,and manual control for operating the slats independently.

2. A signboard of the class described comprising in combination; arectangular housing having openings in four walls and the top, aplurality' of signs mounted in the housing and appearing in theopenings, said signs consisting of moveable slats adaptable to bevariably positioned in the openings to provide different sign wordingthereon, meansfor operating the slats intermittently, and means foroperating .the last I mentioned means.

3. A signboard of the class described comprising in combination, arectangular housing having openings in four walls and the top, aplurality of signs mounted in the'housing and ap-

